The incident caused major disruption to journeys between Peterborough and Grantham, with passengers warned that services could be delayed by up to one-and-a-half hours.

Mr McDonald said: "My day of campaigning for a publicly-owned railway has been interrupted today because of the breakdown of this Virgin Train as I head to Leeds.

"It's run out of power. A little bit like the Tories.

“If anything this today demonstrates just how broken this system is.”

(Image: Steffan Rousseu/ PA Wire)

Average fares on train companies serving Leeds have gone up by at least the national average. The average fare on Virgin Trains East Coast has gone up by 3.4% while Northern trains have gone up by 4.7%, TransPennine Express by 4.6% and CrossCountry by 4.1%.

Labour have said that it would nationalise the railway network and cap prices.

Read More

He said: "On average, fares will rise by less than inflation this year.

"For every pound paid in fares, 97p goes directly back to operating and improving services and, with more people travelling, that means more money for investment by the private and public partnership railway to build the better network Britain needs."